What would Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects be without volunteers editing, photographing and otherwise getting involved? Nothing. That’s why we appreciate their energy and enthusiasm, especially as there aren’t many of them – only about a thousand in the Czech Republic. We support and motivate them in their hugely beneficial work, while always looking for and training new ones.
For newcomers in writing Wikipedia or in taking photos for the Commons, we organize workshops, editathons, contests (Czech Wiki Photo) and projects like We Photograph Czechia, Human Rights Month on Wikipedia or WikiGap, which aims to increase the representation of women on Wikipedia. For the most active volunteers, we offer resources within the Community minigrants, which allow them to implement their own projects.
Programs for editors
Programs for editors are most often editathons and various editing competitions and challenges. For example, we traditionally organize the autumn editing challenge Czechoslovakia 1948-89, where we motivate participants to map this time-space on Wikipedia. WikiGap, on the other hand, aims to bring more female newcomers to Wikipedia writing and also to close the gender gap of articles about men and women, which is roughly 5 to 1. Other topics include the climate crisis and LGBTQ+ community.
morePrograms for photographers
Uploading photos to the free Wikimedia Commons database makes a lot of sense for more than just usage on Wikipedia. That’s why we are trying to recruit new photographers to the Commons and support senior ones. The most popular of our programs for photographers is our year-round We Photograph Czechia project, where we reimburse photographers for the costs of photographing white spots on Czech map. We also run an annual Czech Wiki Photo competition. Furthermore, we motivate our photographing community by organizing smaller competitions throughout the year.
moreCommunity minigrants
We also appreciate the wikipedian-organizers. We have created the Community minigrants program for them. Anyone can apply for financial support for their own wiki-events in which other wikipedians can participate. These funds then enable events such as local meetings, competitions, lectures, photo-workshops, photo-expeditions, WikiTowns, support local GLAM partnerships, training, etc.
Event calendar
15. 01. 2025
Brno
Brněnský wikisraz
19. 02. 2025
Brno
Brněnský wikisraz
News from community
The 6th Edition of the Wikipedia Asian Month Contest on Czech Wikipedia Brought Over 200 New Articles!
The sixth edition of the regular editing contest called Wikipedia… Read more »
Watch webinar on Šumperáky online
You can watch the recording of the webinar here or… Read more »
How did the first year of the Films on Wikipedia Challenge turn out?
Dozens of users edit articles about movies and series on… Read more »
Newcomers on Czech Wikipedia work alongside seasoned veterans
At the October wikipedian meeting, Brno Wikipedians pleasantly surprised me… Read more »
More about our programs
Community Support
Nearly all our activities are geared towards the community of wikipedians and wikipedian photographers – these include senior ones, newcomers, or individuals who just contemplate investing their free time in Wikipedia. Bellow you will find some of our main activities.
We Photogtaph Czechia is a project for photographers who love discovering the beauties of our country. Its goal is to acquire free photos for Wikidata, Commons and Wikipedia. You can photograph virtually any object in Czech Republic – notable buildings, streets, great rivers as well as small rivulets, veteran trees, conciliation crosses, but also animals, plants or events. Furthermore, if you meet several simple conditions, we can reimburse your photographic travel expenses. We also lend cameras and other equipment to our members free of charge and we can procure accreditations for them.
We hold the annual Czech Wiki Photo competition where we honor our photographers and their best photos. You are welcome to apply! Your photos will be automatically uploaded to the online repository of free media, the Wikimedia Commons.
Our so-called editathons are focused on the writing wikipedians. Editathons are one-day live Wikipedia workshops whose goal is to teach the participants the methodology for working on various topics. The workshops are often organized in cooperation with other institutions. They are open not only for senior editors, but mainly for newcomers who receive professional guidance from seasoned Wikipedia lecturers.
Community minigrants
We also appreciate our wikipedian-organizers. We created the Community minigrants program for them which allows anyone to apply for (not only) financial support for their own wiki-events that invite the participation of other wikipedians. Their work enables the hosting of competitions such as photoworkshops, photoexpeditions, Wikicities , local partnerships, trainings and more.